Lando Norris achieved a tough victory over Oscar Piastri to lower its champion shortage to nine points before the break in the middle season.
Norris had looked down early in the race after falling from the third to the fifth in the first two corners after saving a speculative movement on Piastri and was hired by George Russell and Fernando Alonso.
It took the Brit two laps to pass Alonso in the slower Aston Martin, but Russell in the Mercedes was fast enough to keep it at bay for the entire opening tint, which made him separate in the leader from leader Charles Leclerc and Piastri.
Norris was asked by McLaren to switch to a one-stop strategy, and the Brit agreed, with nothing to lose. Leclerc and Piastri stopped on rounds 19 and 18 respectively, but Norris did not go until round 31 before he changed his only tires.
His pace initially seemed bad, but in round 34 he started to wrap fastest rounds and devour the 19S gorge to the leaders.
The awareness insisted on Leclerc and Piastri that their struggle for victory was no longer exclusive.
For Piastri it was more serious, with Norris in a position to score heavily against his championship leader.
Leclerc put in round 40 and gave him nine-round-vresense tires compared to Norris, but it was not an advantage. The Monegasque was unable to make any impression on the gap, and he strived against his team for unknown issues that he complained that he was not consulted before the race.
Piastri delayed his stop to round 45 and gave him a 14-round tire benefit compared to his teammate.
He joined the Race 5.2S behind Leclerc and 12.2s from the management. It took him only six laps to catch and the Ferrari easy to pass with a late inhibiting movement around the outside of the deep red car at the first turn, so that he was put directly behind his teammate.
With 19 laps to go, his shortage was 8.3s, and Piaastri carefully cut to less than 1s with five more laps to go.
Once passed -off, it left the Australian with three clean laps to attack his teammate.
With better launches from the last corner, he dived twice in the first turn, but on the penultimate round he was overflowed and locked dangerously close to a collision.
“Remember how we are going to race,” he was remembered by his engineer prior to the final round.
The lock-up only cost Piastri fractional, but it was enough. He was a little too far back to try another late outages on the final round, and without more past opportunities around the narrow hunger, his attack was spent.
Norris had survived the attack to claim one of his most famous victories and the 200th victory of McLaren.
“I’m dead,” he said exhausted. “In the beginning we were not really planning to plan the one-stop, but the first round was our only option to get back to things.
“It was difficult. The last stint with Oscar catching, I pushed downright. It was therefore even more worthwhile – the perfect result today.”
Piastri knew that his chance of victory had taken a hit as soon as his teammate switched to a one-stop strategy.
“I pushed as hard as I could,” he said. “I knew that I would have to catch up on the right track, which is much easier said than done.
“I think I had to be at least a few tenths closer, which would take a mistake from Lando to reach.”
The Australian wondered if his race would otherwise have ended if he had not tried to underbid Leclerc at the start of the race, which was locked in a two-stop race.
“I don’t know if it was trying to substantiate, Leclerc was the right call in the end, but we can go through it afterwards.”
Russell ended up an unlikely third after passing the furious Lecllc late in the race.
Leclerc had begun to mess around during his second stint about decisions made before the race that he said they were influencing his racing pace, and his frustration grew considerably after he had passed by Piastri and saw Russell behind him.
The move was loaded, where Leclerc moved controversially under the brakes to block the Brit on round 62, but the pace of the Mercedes was overwhelming, and Russell broke by stripping the wrist of a stage trophy and floating to fourth.
“Really happy with the race today,” he said. “This entire weekend has been a bit surprising for everyone, but I am so happy that I am back on stage.”
Leclerc got a 5S fine to drive irregularly, but it did not affect his finishing position.
Alonso finished a strong fifth, where he started, after he had only made one pit stop. The Spaniard held up the entire midfield during the opening half of the race, so that he got the best out of the narrow hunger to maintain the position while he sets his own pace to ensure that he could get in Lap 39 before putting his sole.
Gabriel Bortoleto finished a career-best sixth for his third scoring result of the last four Grands Prix for Sauber, the Brazilian also one stop to the finish.
Lance Stroll completed Aston Martin’s second double scoring finish of the season and second in the last three Grands Prix with seventh.
Liam Lawson finished eighth for Racing Bulls, his third scoring race of the last four rounds, while Andrea Kimi Antonelli returned to the points with 10th place for the first time since Canada.
Max Verstappen finished ninth after a late decision to give up a one-stop strategy, but his position remains under an investigation roller, with an incident that Lewis Hamilton in turn catches up 4 to go for the stewards after the race.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli returned to the points with 10th place for the first time since Canada.
Isack Hadjar finished 11th for Hamilton in the 12th and made no ground despite his one-stop strategy.
Nico Hulkenberg was punished for a Jump -start, but finished 13th for Williams teammates Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon. Esteban Ocon, Yuki Tsunoda, Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly completed the finishers, with Oliver Bearman the only pension with damage.
Result
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